The present invention relates to a blowgun that comprises a barrel and a conical dart, which is put in the barrel and shot from a front end thereof by a breath blown in at a rear end thereof.
Such a blowgun, which comprises a cylindrical blowpipe, i.e., a barrel, has been well-known, and there is a game or competition in which blowguns are used. In such a game, each participant holds the rear end of the blowpipe by the mouth, aims the front end of the blowpipe toward a target and blows a dart out from the front end of the blowpipe, competing for a best accuracy of hits.
In the competition, a contestant needs to hold the rear end of the blowpipe by the mouth. While the contestant is holding the blowpipe by the mouth, he is in a state of looking slantingly down at the blowpipe, so it is difficult to confirm the direction of the blowpipe by the eyes. Each contestant must aim the blowpipe intuitionally or on a basis of experience before blowing off a dart. Therefore, the accuracy to hit a target is greatly influenced by the contestant""s intuition and experience. This is a reason why inexperienced persons are hesitant to participate in blowgun games, so people who are participating in such games tend to be mainly blowgun maniacs.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a blowgun whose blowpipe has a collimator with which the blowgun can be aimed at a target before shooting a dart.
A blowgun according to the present invention comprises a cylindrical blowpipe, a collimator, which is provided on the blowpipe, and a mouthpiece with a blow inlet, the mouthpiece being attached and connected to the rear opening of the blowpipe. The blow inlet of the mouthpiece is offset from the part of the mouthpiece that is attached to the rear opening of the blowpipe, so that a user, while he is collimating the blowpipe toward a target by looking through the collimator, can touch the blow inlet by the mouth and blow air to eject a dart, which is inserted and set in the blowpipe beforehand. The collimator may comprise a front sight, which is provided upward and outward on the front side of the blowpipe, and a rear sight, which is provided upward and outward on the base side of the blowpipe.
With this blowgun, while the user is touching the blow inlet of the mouthpiece by the mouth, he can collimate the blowgun toward the target by looking through the collimator. While he is keeping the blowgun in this collimated condition, he exhales a breath (air) sharply. As the mouthpiece is connected to the rear end of the blowpipe, the air blown into the mouthpiece rushes into the blowpipe, ejecting the dart out of the blowpipe to the target. As the dart is shot in a collimated condition, the accuracy of hits on the target according to the present invention is much higher than that achievable by a prior-art blowgun. Therefore, with a blowgun according to the present invention, even an inexperienced person can participate in and enjoy a blowgun game.
According to another feature of the present invention, a blowgun comprises a cylindrical blowpipe and a collimator, which is provided on the blowpipe. The collimator is fixed on the blowpipe with an offset upward from the center of the blowpipe by an appropriate distance. In this design, when the user touches the rear opening of the blowpipe by the mouth, the collimator is positioned exactly in front of the eyes of the user.
With this blowgun, while the user is touching the rear opening of the blowpipe by the mouth, he can collimate the blowpipe toward a target with the collimator, which is in front of the eyes of the user. While he is keeping the blowgun in this collimated condition, he exhales a breath (air) sharply into the rear end (blow inlet) of the blowpipe, ejecting a dart out of the blowpipe to the target. As the dart is shot in a collimated condition, this blowgun also improves greatly the accuracy of hits on the target.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.